When her master returned from the elf country, Albedo greeted him at the
Ice Prison, then returned to his office to resume her duties.
Toppling the Re-Estize Kingdom had dramatically expanded their
domains and her workload. Albedo's abilities were specialized in domestic
affairs, so nothing here really gave her much trouble. Since they'd burned
most cities to the ground, really thorny issues like occupational politics had
largely gone up in flames.
For that reason, Albedo was devoting a considerable portion of her
mental faculties to the creation of internal resources detailing occupational
strategies for use in the many countries that would eventually come under
their control.
What had worked in E-Rantel might be applicable even when expanded
to a national level, but it was not hard to imagine that would come with
some growing pains. Cities and countries each had their own requirements,
and approaching them as separate beasts would avoid further problems
down the line.
Naturally, what she drew up here might not apply universally to every
country. Different races and cultures made all the difference. But the barebones outline of it should remain useful.
Once it's written up, I'll run it by Demiurge and Pandora's Actor, then
get Lord Ainz's approval.
Their minds should ensure her work was even finer.
I could ask that girl, too…
Her master was the wisest of them all, so having him look first might be
the fastest approach—he could certainly find things the other two would
miss—but as head of the floor guardians, it would never do for her to offer
documents that contained obvious problems.
These thoughts on her mind, she made her way through the pile on her
desk when—
"Albedo! Come to the Ice Prison."
This Message made her jump. She sensed a towering rage behind her
master's thoughts.
Once you hit a certain level, resistance to mind control was vital. Charm
or Dominate could be instantly fatal otherwise. Every floor guardian had
measures in place.
Despite that, Albedo felt a twinge of fear. She might have been able to
null the side effects, but it was impossible to ignore the raw emotion behind
them.
He knew.
Albedo was working on something behind her master's back. Had he
found out?
Had Demiurge sniffed it out and informed him?
It was still at the experimental phase. She had not fully deployed it yet.
Would that engender this much fury?
She could think of no other reason why such anger would be directed
her way.
What was this?
Albedo hastily used the ring's power, moving to the Ice Prison.
Her master stood before the cage housing the half elf they'd captured.
Behind him stood the domain guardian, Neuronist, with Aura and Mare.
His expression was unchanged, but she could still sense the towering
fury.
Albedo immediately prostrated herself before him.
"I cannot apologize enough!"
"...F-for what?"
He sounded genuinely confused. She swiftly concluded the cause of his
fury was not what she'd imagined. This kowtow was a poor choice.
But she'd thought of an excuse on her way here. Her master might be
vastly more intelligent that her, but given enough time, she could form
plans as good as his.
Or at least I hope so.
" If anything in Nazarick has displeased you and incurred your
wrath, Lord Ainz, then that is the fault of the captain of the guardians—
myself. I besmirch Lord Tabula Smaragdina's reputation. Thus, the only
possible response is to bow my head and profess my sorrow."
"......No, Albedo, that's not right at all. First, let me correct a
misunderstanding. This fury is not directed at Nazarick at all."
Albedo breathed a sigh of relief. Not performative—from the heart.
"Th-then what is the cause?"
"Raise your head and stand before me. I do not enjoy having those who
are faultless bow before me."
"Thank you, Lord Ainz."
Albedo rose to her feet.
The twins momentarily looked dubious, which concerned her, but that
was not important now.
"Then can I assume the prisoner had provided you with unpleasant
information?"
He had been using Control Amnesia to gather just that.
Her master had practiced this quite a bit, but even for him, it took weeks
just to skim the surface of memories lasting any length of time. Sorting
carefully through the memories to find critical information could
theoretically take years. And if he was adjusting those memories as he
went, decades.
Many might assume examining memories would prevent false
information, but what they learned was only what the individual believed to
be true. It was quite possible for people to have simply been deceived.
Achieving any degree of certainty required searching the memories of
multiple subjects, and nobody had time for that. Ultimately, her master said
simpler means of gathering information were far more practical.
Same for memory manipulation.
For example, say he burned a village down and a surviving villager had
the nerve to bear a grudge against him and sought the power to harm him—
this was not possible, but for the sake of argument, assume they achieved it.
If they removed the villager's memories of who had burned the village,
did that solve the problem and turn the villager into a useful tool? No.
While on his quest for power, he had likely told someone he was out for
revenge—and unless all such moments were eliminated, the villager would
notice the inconsistencies.
In other words, the villager might not remember his village burning
down, but he would remember saying, "An undead named Ainz burned my
village down," over drinks.
Here, the prisoner was unconscious, and this was merely a useful way to
gather some information ahead of time.
" Shalltear."
That word was enough for Albedo.
"...Who is the prisoner with?"
"...Albedo."
"Lord Ainz." She bent a knee.
"Everyone not required for Nazarick defense can put aside their current
line of work. We will invade and destroy the Theocracy at once. They
started the fight; we'll finish it. Agreed?"
His tone was gentle. But the emotions behind it were the polar opposite.
She could not remember the last time he'd been so angry.
" Indeed. As you say. I'll send word to all floor guardians and have
them prepare."
"Good. Get to it, Albedo. Now."
His kind tone made her shiver. Albedo bowed low.